Compression fitting



June 12, 1945. Q. E. LAUE 2,377,891

COMPRESSION FITTING Filed Sept. 5, 1942 10 g Y A V 7 A ,T Z Y 'l'lmlllmm 5 Q2 v A a? 6r INVENTOR.

flarlsrnegiowe p emium. 12, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT oFr c-E ams illt'fi m G i Charles Ernest Laue, Chicago, Ill. I Application September 5, 1942, Serial No. 457,385

My invention relates to a tube coupling or fitting, and more particularly to a compression fitting in which seating means associated with a tube is compressed by a nut member into engagement with a body member in order to seal the fitting. In order that a fitting of the above described L type may be completely satisfactory, a number of features must be present, and one of these features is that the fitting must be capable of assembly and disassembly without transmitting torque forces to the tube from the nut member as it engages and disengages the body member in the usual manner.

It is therefore an object of this invention" to prevent the transmission of torque forces in the manner above described by providing the tube with a metallic sleeve which seats against the' which might result in the transmission of torque from the nut memberto the collarand thence to the tube.

Another essential feature of a satisfactory compression fitting is capabilty of repeated assembly and disassembly of the fitting without permitting leakage, and I achieve this feature by forming and arranging a lead collar between the tube and the sleeve, a portion of the lead being extruded.

from between the sleeve and the tube into seating engagement with the body member as the nut member compresses the sleeve against the body member and thereby contracts a portion of the sleeve about the lead collar.

It will be understood that the lead being areadily'deformable material will form an excellent and renewableseat each time the coupling .is assembledand as the lead is'very gradually worn bw'ay more-will be extruded by the cozitinued contraction of the sleeve, so that the lead is automatically fed out from between the tube 1 and the sleeve as needed. It will be apparent thereof, the tube and sleeve assembly being shown in elevation: I

1 Figures 2 and 8 are enlarged sectional views in the plane of Figure 1 and showing respectively the tube and sleeve assembly before and after application to the body member;

Figure 4 is a sectional I view of my coupling taken in the same plane as Figures -'1 to 3, inclu- 31W; "1 1 Figure 5 is a sectional view taken in the same plane as Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, but showin a modified form of my coupling: and Figures 6 and! are enlarged fragmentary sectional views showing respectively the conditions prevailing before and after the assembly of the coupling shown in Figure 5.

Describing my invention in detail and referring first to the modifications shown in Figures i to 4, inclusive, the tube 2 may be a standard tube of any suitable material such as brass, aluminum, or plastic. and a sleeve 4 may be positioned on said tube adjacent one end thereof, said sleeve being formed of any suitable material such as brass or aluminum and comprising at one end thereof an annular flange I (Figures 3 to 4) defining an annular recess 8, and said sleeve 4 may comprise at the opposite end theref of an annular flange ll defining the shoulder i2 (Figures 2 and 3) A readily deformable collar it of lead or other suitable material having the characteristic of fluidity may be interposed between the flange 6 of the sleeve 4 and the tube 2, said collar being accommodatedwithin the recesst and affording a reservoir of metal for a purpese hereinaiter more fully described.

that any comparatively soft and fluid impervious 1 material might be substituted for the lead; however, the ability ofthe lead to withstand corrosive action of certain materials which may pass through the tube makes the lead a particularly suitable substance-tor this purpose.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is asectional view of the coupling in a plane bisecting the The sleeve 6 and the flange t thereon are provided with a tapered surface "adapted to seat against the body member generally designated 2|, as at (Figures 1 and 4).

' A: nut membergenerally designated 24 engages I the annular shoulder l2 and the flange It at 23 and ll respectively, at surfaces lying P rnendicular'to the axis of the assembly, indicated at AA, Figure 1, said nut member having threaded engagement at II with the body member 20 in the usual manner. It'will, be apparent from a consideration of Figure 2, showing the tube 2 and the associated-sleeve l and the collar it before assembly with Figures 8 and 4, showing the structure after assembly. that as the nut member 24 is threaded into the body'mcmbcr II, the flange" t ls'oontracted about the collar .ll, whereby the isextrudedatllandisaflordedaseatlng .lead axl su 'engaacmsntatfla'igureslandflwiththebody member 20, sa d collar it also being contracted about the tube 2 to form a cannelure'at 3!, thus interlocking the tube, the sleeve 4 and the collar l8, whereby they may thereafter be readily handled as a unit in the assembly and disassembly of the fitting.

If desired, it will be understood that the tube 2 may be knurled in order to afiord a more effective engagement with the lead collar II.

It will be understood that the lead constituting the collar I6 is gradually extruded from'be tween the flange 6 and the tube 2, and that the conditions shown in Figures 1,3 and 4 will prevail only after the coupling has been assembled several times. However, the flange 8 aflords a seat against the body member as at 22 until the lead is extruded into seating engagement at It with the body member. In'this connection it may be noted that in actual practice after the coupling has been assembled several times a thin layer of the lead is smeared over the tapered surface of the flange 8 as indicated at 31 (Figures 1 and 3).

It will be further understood that if desired the sleeve 4 and the lead collar I i may be initially formed substantially as shown in Figure 3 with the collar presenting a tapered surface for engagement as at 34 with the body member. After the collar and the sleeve assume the form shown in Figure 3, however, whether initially assembled in that form or compressed into said form by the nut member 24 in the manner above I described it will be understood that the tapered surface of the lead collar which engages the body at 34 will be deformed into a new seat each time the coupling is assembled.

It will be apparent from a consideration of Figures 1 to 4 that although the tube 2 in these therebetween the annular recess ll filled with lead 82 or other readily deformable substance, the outer flange 58 being provided with a tapered surface seated at 64, Figure5, against a complementary surface on the body member ll, said body member having threaded engagement at It with the nut member 54.

Figures 6 and '7 are fragmentary sectional views showing respectively the conditions prevailing before and after the first few assemblies of this modification of my coupling, and it will be apparent that the flanges l8 and 58 are gradually contracted about the tube 52 as the nut member is urged into engagement with the body member 65, the outer flange 56 being contracted to a greater extent than the inner flange 58, whereby the lead-62 is extruded from the recess .0,

' the lead together with the flange 58 being conmodifications may be slightly spaced from the nut member 24 and the sleeve it, the space between said sleeve and the tube is insufllcient to permit the lead to flow therethrough.

able lead collar utilized in my invention forms a new seat each time it is urged into engagement with the body member by means of the nut memher.

The body member 20 is provided with a passage of usual form and said body member in the modification shown is threaded at 44, Figure 1, for engagement with a wall 4B of a reservoir tracted about the tube 52 to form the canneiure 68 (Figure 5), thus restraining the tube against, longitudinal movement with respect to the nut member 54. s

It will be noted from a consideration of Figure 5 that the lead 82 is urged into seating engagement at I0 with the body member 65, thus forming a readily deformable and renewable seat against said body member each time the coupling is assembled. The degree of contraction of the outer annular flange may be seen from a comparison of Figures 6 and 7, in which the angle of taper of the seat of the body member 05 is indicated at 12 (Figure 6) and it may be noted in Figure 7, showing the contour of the nut member after several assemblies with the body memher, that the flange 56 has been deformed to conform to the taper of the seat 12, said deformation serving to extrude the lead 82 in the manner heretofore described.

Itis to be understqod that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiments of the device shown which are merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of .the claims.

collar, the outer flange having a tapered seating or any other desired structure, fragmentarily indicated in Figure l, but it will be understood that the body member 20 may be formed with one or more additional seats for engagement with one or more additional tubes in order to afford a coupling betweenseveral tubes in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

As shown, the nut member and the body member are formed respectively as male and female members, but it will be apparent that these members might be formed with the nut member as a female member and the body member as a male member without departing from the scope of this invention.

Another modification of my. invention is shown in Figures 5 to 7 inclusive, in'which the tube 52 is provided with a nut member 54 sleeved thereover, said nut member comprising the spaced inner and outer annular flanges I6 and 58 defining and outer, annular, radially contractible flanges surface, a body having a tapered seat, and means for urging said surface against said seat whereby said flanges and said collar are contracted about said tube and a portion of said material is extruded from between said flanges into seating engagement with said seat.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a composite coupling element for a tube, comprising a sleeve including an annular radially contractible flange on one end thereof defining a recess, and a relatively soft metallic collar completely confined from end to end thereof within said recess in abutment with the inner perimeter of said flange and adapted, when said sleeve is contracted, to form a seat about the tube.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a threaded sleeve having on one end thereof spaced inner defining a recess therebetween, and a collar of relatively soft, extrudable material confined within said recess.

CHARLES ERNEST LAUE. 

